I had been listening for several weeks to Alison Krauss and Robert Plant's haunting cover of Sam Phillips' "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us" on their Raising Sand CD, when I suddenly noticed something familiar about the lyrics. Hearing about music from above triggered the memory of a night in late 1972, when I happened into a little café on Bolinas Road and heard a choir of hippies with celestial voices singing a song called Music in the Air. I wondered if there was some connection, so I googled Sister Rosetta, and there she was in early '50s black and white on YouTube, singing her own version of that song, backed up by a gospel choir.That got me thinking about the choir of hippies, who called themselves the Fairfax Street Choir and served as the unofficial house band of Billy Bramblett's vegetarian hangout and music club on Bolinas Road, the Sleeping Lady Café. I used to traipse around the county to hear their performances, so I googled them next. I found recordings of many of their songs, and photos, and reminiscences by Choir members, and even a mournful eulogy to the late Laura Allan, the beautiful and deeply talented singer/songwriter who played her dulcimer so wild and sweet with the Choir.
I also found, rising from the mist like Brigadoon, the Sleeping Lady, a new café and music venue open since Nov. 14 in the old Café Amsterdam on Broadway. Envisioned as a family oriented community gathering place by owners Iseult Jordan and Tara Ferguson, this cafe is no longer strictly vegetarian. But the mural above the bar of the recumbent sleeping Princess Tamalpais, her shoulder and hip mirroring the silhouette of the mountain, still evokes the zeitgeist of the '70s, when Marin County, and especially Fairfax, was about as close to heaven as an itinerant musician could hope to land.
Tara Ferguson was one of the original owners of the Café Amsterdam. She and Iseult Jordan, who is an Irish folksinger, are programming an eclectic mix of live music seven nights a week beginning around 9pm, and an Irish program on Sunday afternoons. There's open mic on Monday evenings, and belly dancing on Thursdays. Many of the bands are local, including my current favorite, Shine, who will play there on Jan. 8. (Well, OK, my daughter sings with Shine. That could be why they're my favorite!)
The space is larger than the old Sleeping Lady, and the fact that the décor has only been superficially spiffed up probably lends to the retro ambiance. There's lots of wood, on the floors, tables, bar and halfway up the walls. The chairs feel slightly rickety. Of course, Fairfax itself still feels like a throwback to another era. Less than six weeks after opening, some of the local denizens have obviously become regulars. I even saw a former Choir member quietly eating dinner, back in the corner, near the bar.
The bar serves beer and wine and a few specialty drinks involving combinations of same. All the wines except Moet et Chandon White Star Champagne ($60) are served by the glass, and they range from $6.50 to $11 a glass, and $24 to $44 a bottle. Fifteen beers are served on tap. I tried a glass of Pilsner Urquell from Czechoslovakia, and my companion assayed one of Heineken. I liked the nutty Pilsner, but it's always hard to beat the icy elegance of a Heineken.
Our friendly server brought us a basket of bread, with cruets of olive oil and balsamic vinegar to mix for dipping. It was a good thing we had the dipping sauce, because the bread was surprisingly hard and stale.Chef Miguel Perez' ambitious menu, which includes some old favorites from the Amsterdam and some updated recipes, is divided into sections headed Small Plates, Nourishings, Sandwiches/Burgers, Larger Plates and Pasta. Oh, and there's a Kid's Menu, which includes simple pastas, a quesadilla, chicken strips and a free range cheeseburger, all in the $5 range. Kids can also order a warm chocolate chip cookie ($2.50), or a rice crispy treat ($2.99) for dessert.From the Nourishings section, which is comprised of salads and soup, I tried the watermelon salad ($9.99). The arrangement was pretty and colorful, composed of wild green arugula, chunks of pale fennel root, sliced radishes and rosy watermelon cubes, with drifts of feta and a light champagne vinaigrette. This cool salad would have tasted even better on a summer evening, but I liked it all the same.We were less sanguine about Aran's Moroccan spiced calamari, with cucumber lime aioli ($8.99). The squid had been chopped into teensy little pieces, then coated with breading thick enough to extinguish any flavor other than that of the batter. The aioli tasted more like a yogurty tartar sauce. You have to be careful with cucumbers in sauces, because they need some pungent herbs and spices to keep them from watering things down too much. I couldn't detect any hint of Moroccan spice anywhere on the plate.Our entrees arrived before we had finished our first courses. This would have been OK if we had ordered burgers or small plates, but with the big entrees it felt a bit off. My all natural (what's that?) free-range filet mignon ($20.99) looked squished, as though it had been pounded or flattened. It also didn't look as though it had been cooked on a very hot grill. Topped by a round of herb butter, the flavor of the meat was fine, but the texture was oddly reminiscent of flannel. I wondered if the chef had tried to tenderize it somehow.Entrees come with a choice of two sides. My Swiss chard was about as perfectly cooked as I've ever had; tender but still fluffy and still bright green, with only the lightest shimmer of oil. Roasted chunks of butternut squash, though, were dry and undercooked, and there was nothing to connect the flavors of the dried cherries and sage leaves with which they had been tossed.Pan roasted all natural (there that is again) salmon ($17.99) came in a generous portion, but had been just slightly overcooked, and the dearth of sauce made it taste even drier. The chosen sides of juicy grilled asparagus and olive oil crushed potatoes, though, were great. Halved baby red potatoes had been slightly mashed and infused with roasted garlic. I thought these quite tasty!Of the list of seven desserts, only the crme brulée ($5.50) is house made. It's a light version that somehow manages to taste like a buttery almond scented Christmas cookie. I couldn't find anything not to like about that!The Sleeping Lady is open seven nights a week, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner on the weekends. We didn't even put a dent in the menu, so I feel our random sample may not be representative of what the kitchen can do. Next time I'll try the buckwheat soba noodle salad ($8.99), or the quinoa salad with dried fruits and sliced almonds ($6.99), or the Thai noodle salad with chicken ($10.50). Or maybe a burgerfree range beef, veggie or tofu. And an order of truffle fries with parmesan (45.25) or chipotle prawns ($8.99) or. I'm sure you can see what I mean.And then there's the music. A friend, when told we were dining at the Sleeping Lady, remarked, "Oh, that's the new hang." I'm glad. I like the memories of hanging at the old one so long ago, and I'm all for making some new ones. I'll certainly be there for Shine, and if any Choir members are considering a reunion performance, please put me on the mailing list!
